Holding Back the Years
"Holding Back the Years" is a song by Simply Red. Mick Hucknall is the man who sang it. The song's lyrics are ambiguous, but may mean what is described in the "Meaning" section of this article. Lyrics Holding back the years Thinking of the fear I've had so long When somebody hears Listen to the fear that's gone Strangled by the wishes of pater Hoping for the arms of mater Get to neither sooner or later Holding back the years Chance for me to escape from all I've known Holding back the tears 'Cause nothing here has grown I've wasted all my tears Wasted all those years Nothing had the chance to be good Nothing ever could, yeah, oh I'll keep holding on I'll keep holding on I'll keep holding on I'll keep holding on So tight All right Oh now Well, I've wasted all my tears Wasted all of those years And nothing had the chance to be good 'Cause nothing ever could, oh yeah, oh I'll keep holding on I'll keep holding on I'll keep holding on I'll keep holding on Holding, holding, holding, oh I say, ooh yeah That's all I have today It's all I have to say Meaning It is difficult to decipher each line; here are explanations: * "Holding back the years" = "Preventing memories of past years from entering the mind" * "Listen to the fear that's gone" = "Listen to the fear that's gone out into the open as expressed by utterance" * "Strangled by the wishes of pater" = His father is disdainfully wishful or disdainful in general (maybe why his mother left) * "Hoping for the arms of mater" = Mick Hucknall's mother left him when he was 3 so this means "Hoping for the return or acceptance of mother" * "Get to me the sooner or later" = "Do it sooner or later" * "Chance for me to escape from all I've known" = all that is known is sensory experience and logic, suicide or moving to another location to take up residence is a chance to escape from the well known location and people or life one grew up in * "Holding back the tears" = after crying so long he cannot release anymore tears but misinterprets it as acting tough and not crying (or he is able to release tears but is acting tough and not doing so) * "Cause nothing here has grown" = No tears have grown/appeared * "I've wasted all my tears" = his tears have all been spent/used up * "Wasted all those years" = he wasted his life and it was not what he wanted * "And nothing had the chance to be good \n Nothing ever could yeah" = nothing is possible of being good, and with deep depression nothing is rewarding; there is a very long lasting experience of neutral or negative emotions (such as boredom, sadness, and anger) * "I'll keep holding on" = He will keep living nonetheless, the reasoning for that may be explained by these quotes: ** "You cannot now believe that you will ever feel better. But this is not true. You are sure to be happy again. Knowing this, truly believing it, will make you less miserable now." --Abraham Lincoln ** "To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering." --Friedrich Nietzsche * "That's all I have today \n It's all I have to say" = His resolve to hold on, his biography, and his condition is all he currently has and is all he has to say; it is the main truth of himself. External links * http://lyrics.wikia.com/wiki/Simply_Red:Holding_Back_The_Years * http://www.simplyred.com/simplyred/music-and-lyrics/picture-book/holding-back-the-years/ Category:Songs